IGN: Miiverse was announced at the show, and... Can you talk a little bit about Nintendo's strategy when it comes to social integration? And also, secondary to that, are you planning on supporting some of the mass-market, very popular social programs like Twitter and Facebook, those sorts of things?

Fils-Aime: Maybe I should deal with that last one first. So... We, today, have an active presence on Facebook and Twitter, so if your point is, hey, can my activity on Miiverse show up on Facebook or Twitter... Right now, the way we're thinking about it is that Miiverse is gaming-focused. It's your gaming friends. And so right now we're thinking about that as, if you will, an established community. Lot of potential options for what we do in the future, but right now it's gaming first.

In terms of how we're thinking about integrating it into the games, candidly, we're going to go into this in a lot of detail in the developer roundtable [Editor's Note - You can actually get some good detail on this in my interview with legendary producer, director Takashi Tezuka - Rich], because both New Super Mario Bros. U as well as Nintendo Land are great representations of what we're doing with Miiverse, and we'll have the game producers talking about both of those later today. What I would tell you is that... The ability to have the community reinforcing what's hot, what's exciting... The ability for the community to share information... We think that's powerful. We think that there isn't anyone doing that today in the gaming space. Not the way that we're thinking about it.

IGN: I think we heard about Miiverse and I think a lot of gamers are wondering about the larger idea of the online service, the larger impact of Nintendo Network, and they're sitting there going... Is this going to compete with XBL? Is this going to compete with the PSN? Can you talk a little bit about Nintendo's ambitions and ideas regarding the larger online game experience?

Fils-Aime: Again, what I would tell you is... We don't look at what other people are doing. We step back and say, what would be fun, what would be unique, what would be different? And that's what's driving us. But having said that, is our vision that consumers are going to be super excited about Miiverse and super excited about what it represents? Absolutely.

The way that we're going to integrate it into the games, the way that you'll be able to pop in, pop out, do your messaging, get information, we think it's hugely powerful. It is somethinig that not only from a first-party standpoint, but from a third-party games, additional applications standpoint, there's a lot of excitement about how we're approaching Miiverse.

IGN: Switching gears, because I'm getting bombarded on Twitter to ask this... Everyone wants to know what Retro is up to. It's been a couple of years since we really heard from them. When will we hear from them?

Fils-Aime: Rich, if I disclosed what Retro is doing, I would have the president of Retro literally calling me right now saying, "Reggie, what are you doing?" We love that people are interested. We love surprising people. I remember getting the questions before we announced Donkey Kong Country Returns. And I loved unveiling that. So... Rest assured, the team is hard at work. But I'm not gonna tell you what they're working on.

IGN: Okay, cool. I think, looking back at the core gamers once again, they have an Xbox 360 or a PS3. And then all indications are that Microsoft and Sony are about to bring their next consoles in within the next year or two. What are your thoughts about how Wii U will compete? Not only with the existing platforms, but the ones that are just around the corner?

Fils-Aime: We're about to launch a tremendously powerful system. A system that pushes out great graphics, a system that has an opportunity to do a lot of things. What I've heard the fan community say is, I want my Mario, I want my Zelda, and I want the best of third-party. And that's what we're looking to bring to consumers.

I think in the end, the consumer choice is going to be... Once I buy my Wii U, that satisfies my Nintendo cravings and my cravings for all of these other great multi-platform franchises, then what is the role of a competitive platform? It's going to have to live on the backs of some sort of unique proposition, or unique content. And to me that's the million-dollar question. Of our potential competitors down the road, who's going to have that compelling content that's going to say, hey, now I need to branch out and pick up this additional system? I think it's for them to answer.

Rich is an executive editor of IGN.com and the leader of the network's Nintendo coverage. He also watches over all things Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed, WWE and much more. Follow him on Twitter if you know what's good for you.